Sir Arthur Higgins
Dick Tooth (41)
insert appropriate grammar and spelling where needed above. bloody iphones.
Nevertheless, Bruce, I offer my congratulations to Sir Arthur for a well-written piece. Can't argue with any of it.
"Sir Arthur Higgins", would that be an ancient Irish peerage? You wouldn't be Sir Murray Rivers' cousin, would you? A small taste:
Waratahs doomed before ball kicked
- Jamie Pandaram
- The Daily Telegraph
- July 13, 2012 12:00AM
A PLAYER-led campaign to ease pre-season training ruined the Waratahs' season before it began.
A small number of senior players fought to lighten the load of training before this season, believing it would serve the team well at the back end of a long year.
Michael Foley, in his first year as head coach, failed to overrule them.
The lack of pre-season conditioning has bombed spectacularly, with NSW on a seven-match losing streak largely because they have been overrun by fitter teams.
The Daily Telegraph has been told that other players who were wary of a reduced pre-season now blame it as the root cause of the worst season in Waratahs history.
The statistics are damning.
Across the entire season, the Waratahs have lost just one quarter overall - the last one - in points scored and conceded.
The points differential overall in quarters one, two and three is +7, 0 and +2 respectively. In the last quarter, the differential is -54.
The fatigued side has repeatedly fallen away with games on the line, losing eight by seven points or less.
Foley, who confirmed he will remain in charge next year, will have to run a much tighter ship. He acknowledges errors for this year's planning without giving specific detail.
"The preparation for the season on any number of levels needs to be sharper," Foley said. "There were any number of reasons why that wasn't what it needed to be last year. But we need to eliminate those reasons.
"We're certainly pretty clear in our minds of how we'd do that."
Brumbies coach Jake White, who put his side through a gruelling seven-month pre-season ordeal, noted after beating NSW last weekend that his side had banked on being the fitter side.
Foley said: "Undoubtedly they finished stronger. I think one of things we'll assess as we go into next season is our physical preparation both with the non-Wallaby guys, what they do when they have their break after club footy, and also what our Wallaby guys do through their break after the end-of-year tour.
"People need a rest, but with such a short turnaround from the Wallaby season into the Waratah season it's important that we make the most of the opportunities."
Foley said the most important task for the Waratahs against Queensland tomorrow is to play for 80 minutes.
He said there is no truth to reports he may walk out if the team loses in Brisbane.
So, the Waratahs' problems lie with player power?
judging by the player physiques I would suggest that if Benn Robinson wasn't at least a driver of this campaign, he has certainly used it to his physical detrimentwould love for somone just once to name some names!
he started the first game of the season, so I assume he was involved in some form of training prior. Then again, maybe that's th issueI doubt it. He would have spent most of the offseason doing rehab work.
He only had his knee reconstruction a month or two before Quade Cooper.